Canning Vegetables for the Winter

Successfully growing vegetables can leave a person wondering what to do with all the overbrimming vines and plants. When you’ve grown too much to eat and even to give away, you still don’t want the food to rot on the vine or in the fridge. Canning vegetables is an old, successful way of preserving your plenty.

The most important thing with home-canned food is making sure it’s safe. A pressure canner is recommended. It is also important to take altitude into account since water boils at a lower temperature at a higher altitude. Vegetables should be canned only in standard jars for canning, with a seal ring. Use a canning recipe from a reliable source instead of making up your own.

Getting Started with Canning

Some cookbooks will have canning recipes. You can also find recipes for canning various vegetables from the local extension office of an agricultural university, or on the Internet. You’ll need to make sure you allow yourself plenty of time to do things correctly, rather than canning your vegetables too hastily and risking spoilage or botulism.

Some vegetables can better than others. For example, tomatoes picked from a dead vine will be too low in acidity to avoid spoiling. Vegetables that are too ripe will not survive the canning process.

A standard canning jar is glass, with a two part lid consisting of a seal and a metal ring. The glass allows you to see the vegetables within, so you can still enjoy color from your garden even in the winter. Home-canned vegetables make a perfect gift for a housewarming, winter holiday, or expression of friendship. When you know how to preserve your vegetables you don’t have to hold back on what you grow, and are only limited by the size of your garden.

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